Fit Facts ®

Exercising with Health Challenges

Exercise can be an important part of coping with a chronic disease or recovering from an injury. Exercise can increase longevity and quality of life; improve energy, strength, balance and coordination; and act as a potent pain reliever and antidepressant. But many people don't know what exercise guidelines to follow for optimal health and management of their disease or disorder. Coordinate with your healthcare provider and ACE-certified fitness professional to make the most of your exercise experience, and to improve your health and quality of life.

28 Fit Facts Found in Exercising with Health Challenges

My doctor says that I have prediabetes. What does this mean?

“Prediabetes” means that the amount of sugar (glucose) in your blood is higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes. It is common for a person with prediabetes to feel completely normal. However, it is a serious medical condition that, if left untreated, often progresses to type 2 diabetes.

Exercise for Breast Cancer Survivors

After surviving your breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, you may wonder, if you’ll ever regain your strength. Whether or not you were able to stay active during your treatment, regular physical activity will be an important part of your recovery plan. Many breast cancer survivors say that getting and staying active has played a big role in getting their lives back.

From Physical Therapy to Personal Fitness

Graduating from physical therapy is a good reason to celebrate and there’s no better time to start a fitness program, even if you’ve never been physically active. Regular exercise will help you maintain your therapy results and will keep you feeling good for a long time. Create a plan to stay active and fit, even when you don’t have a therapist watching your every move.

Get Back in the Game with Cardiac Rehabilitation

Living with a heart condition can involve huge adjustments to your lifestyle, such as new ways of eating, new medications and even changes in your sex life. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Cardiac rehabilitation is an outpatient program designed to improve your physical, psychological and social well-being.

Staying Fit with Lung Conditions

Years ago, people with lung conditions were advised to take it easy, and sit out of strenuous activities. Thanks to medical research, those days are over.
It’s established that regular exercise is beneficial for people with lung disease.

How to Prevent and Treat ACL Injuries

Mention an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to any professional athlete, and he or she is likely to shudder. Athletes with such injuries often spend months on the bench and in the physical therapy room.

How to Avoid Deep Vein Thrombosis on Long Plane Flights

The fear of flying is common among the general public. Even though flying has been called the safest way to travel, some people just can’t shake that feeling in the back of their minds that a plane can always go down.

Exercise Can Help Control Stress

People who exercise regularly will tell you they feel better. Some will say it’s because chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are produced in the brain, are stimulated during exercise. Since it’s believed that neurotransmitters mediate people’s moods and emotions, they can make you feel better and less stressed.

Don’t Be a Sore Loser - Dealing with Muscle Soreness

Delayed onset muscle soreness. It’s the name of the stiff pain you feel as you roll over and reach to turn off the morning alarm after a day in which you trained unusually hard or tried a new exercise.
Some people feel there’s no better reward; others cease to exercise. What everyone should know is that there is a way to prevent this muscle soreness.

Postpartum Health

After nine months of carrying extra weight around, you’re probably ready to shed the last few pounds. Women gain about 30 pounds during pregnancy and lose about 18 to 20 pounds in the first month after giving birth. Dropping the last five to 10 pounds can be challenging. The trick is adding a consistent exercise program to an overall healthy lifestyle.

Managing Cholesterol with Exercise

High cholesterol, known as hypercholesterolemia, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In the United States, more than 105 million people (that’s almost 50% of adults over age 20) suffer from elevated cholesterol.

Exercising With Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide. It results when fatty material in the coronary arteries blocks the flow of blood to the heart muscle.

Can Exercise Reduce Your Risk of Catching a Cold?

Sir William Osler, the famous Canadian medical doctor, once quipped, “There’s only one way to treat the common cold—with contempt.” And for good reason. The average adult has two to three respiratory infections each year. That number jumps to six or seven for young children.

Reduce Your Risk for Osteoporosis Now

Osteoporosis is an age-related disorder in which bones become gradually thinner, more porous and less able to support the weight of the body. It has a debilitating effect on quality of life, as it limits a person’s independence.
This condition attacks both men and women, but women usually suffer more severely because bone loss accelerates rapidly after menopause.

Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is on the rise, which experts largely attribute to the rise in obesity. Type 2 diabetes, which is responsible for 90 to 95% of all diabetes cases, is more common in adults, but as rates of childhood obesity increase, more young children are being diagnosed with the disease.

Exercise and Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to use sugars, starches, fats and proteins. Because the body needs various fuels for energy, this disease disrupts normal energy metabolism both at rest and during physical exercise.
Following digestion, a hormone called insulin is released into the blood from the pancreas.

Work Out Chronic Fatigue

It is estimated that more than 1 million Americans have chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), an illness defined as profound disabling fatigue lasting six months or more plus at least four of the following: impaired memory or concentration, sore throat, tender glands, aching or stiff muscles, multijoint pain, new headaches, unrefreshing sleep, and fatigue following exercise or exertion.

Understanding Sciatica

Low-back pain can have a major impact on your fitness program and ability to perform simple daily tasks. While most back pain is short-lived and resolves with minimal intervention, most people would like to avoid experiencing the pain again. The first step in prevention is knowing what caused your back pain in the first place.

Starting a Stroke-Recovery Fitness Program

A stroke or “brain attack” occurs when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain or when a blood vessel tear causes bleeding in the brain. In both cases, part of the brain quickly begins to die from oxygen deprivation.

Protecting Your Back At Work

Low-back pain is a leading cause of job-related disability and missed work in the United States. The pain is so unbearable that Americans spend more than $50 billion per year in an effort to make it go away. While low-back pain typically affects people around the ages of 30 to 50, most people suffer back pain (which is often work-related) at one time or another.